Lung Diseases and Pulmonary Medicine

Men with a history of heavy smoking who have a CT scan to look for lung cancer could benefit from a simultaneous check for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), Dutch researchers suggest. Dr. Neil Schachter, medical director of the respiratory care department at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, said heavy smokers should be screened for COPD. "The question is, is CT a useful way to screen for COPD," Dr. Schachter said. "On the one hand, you are using an expensive tool to make a diagnosis that you could make with a simpler, cheaper tool, namely spirometry." However, with CT scans becoming a standard screen for diagnosing lung cancer, it might make sense to also use it to diagnose COPD, he said. Learn more